Research Methods Flashcards

Question

# case study milgram - obedience study | lab experiment

Answer 1

study: when pressured by an authority figure of people, shock another person with dangerous levels of electricity. = the willingness of individuals to follow the orders of authorities when those orders conflict with the individual's own moral judgment. - links to ehical issues - Deception: lied about the purpoe of the experiemnt - physical ans psychological harm - it demonstrated power of authority and how it can have an influence on people to behave unethically and against their wishes.

Answer 2

* This method can be used study past events. * involves comparing two or more similar societies/groups which are similar in some aspects but varied in others, and looking for correlations.

Answer 3

involves selecting the people you will carry out the research with/on

Answer 4

a list of the members of the population (e.g. school register/postcode list)

Answer 5

the simplest technique, where the sample is selected purely by chance. (e.g. names maybe selected randomly in a hat)

Answer 6

researchers sample individuals that represent a population according to specific traits or qualities.

Answer 7

the researcher first stratifies the population in sampling frame by age, class, gender etc.

Answer 8

- used when characteristics to be possessed by samples are rare. - every 10th... - Researchers may find a participants, and then ask them to find participants themselves and so on. - This is useful when a sample is difficult to obtain

Answer 9

are a type of group interview in which respondents are asked to discuss certain topics

Answer 10

in which the interviewer interviews a group at a time.

Answer 11

in which respondents have a list of questions, but they are free to ask further, differentiated questions based on the responses given.

Answer 12

* like a guided conversation. * flexible-free flowing discussion, can check understanding and can ask follow up questions to clarify * interviewee's view * rapport and emphathy is gained = likely to be truthful and at ease = gained indepth data, explores tsensitive/unfamiliar topics = which the researcher can undertand more about how it makes them feel = requires good personal skills to establishe honsety * this links to ethical strengths on how **informed consent** will be attained and **confindentialt**y will be ensure = this is so it doesnt harm the respondent

Answer 13

- **Time-consuming**: some info may not be relevant personal characterisitics: - counter argument for (free-flowing): promotes **interview bia**s, interviewer may ask - * **leading questions*** = diffiuclt to remain detached and neutral - counter argument for flexible/truthful: **status and power inequalities** this may affect the respondents willingless/honesty to answer = **validity is undermided** = may give social desibarle answers - **ACCESS**: schools are hierachal insitutuions and this can cause problems when seeking to interview pupuils/teachers. = shcools may be reluctant to allow sociologists research during lesson time - ^ **parental permission** also plays apart as well as the location - **lacks reliablity** = each interview is unique - variety of different questions asked = aslo difficult to repeat, because the success of the interview depends on the bond of trust

Answer 14

like questionnaires

Answer 15

- associated with interpretivists and feminists. - focuses on qualitative data - sociologists are part of a society that they are studying.

Answer 16

- focuses on quantitative - associated with positivists = needs to be scientific - based on personal beliefs. = dont allow other opinions/bias' to influence their study

Answer 17

The researcher joins in with the group being studied and observed their behaviour - positivists prefer thismethod

Answer 18

The researcher take a ***‘fly on the wall approach’*** & observed without getting involved with the group

Answer 19

Covert - cover Undercover: the researcher doesn’t reveal that he/she is the researcher

Answer 20

The researcher**informs** participant in advance and obtains **informed consent**

Answer 21

* high in **ecological validity:** obtain rich qualitative data that provides a picture of how they really are * **insight** - understanding **‘verstehen**’, allows the researcher to gain empathy through personal experience. We can gain insight into the way of life. also allows the researcher to fully join the group and to see things through the eyes (and actions) of the people in group. = authentic data. * **Flexibility** - allows for an open mind. Researcher can follow up different directions/ideas if something interesting occurs = It allows the researcher to enter the situation with an open mind and as new situations are encountered they can be followed up.

Answer 22

* Time consuming = research is first hand and may be long to observe all the patterns. (Decreasing the representativeness) * skilled sociologists * personal characteristics such as age, gender may restrict what kinds of group can be studied. = gatekeepers I.e. headteachers, makes it difficult to gain access

Answer 23

Covert participation observation raises difficulties - deceiving people to gain info on them is wrong can as it can cause harm. Need to be aware of the **psychological harm/distress** it could have - sensitive topics could lead to negative consequences

Answer 24

Representatives -small sample sizes as time consuming so hard to generalize from data Reliability - it would be almost impossible for another researcher to repeat given that a participant observation study relies on the personal skills and characteristics of the lone researcher.

Answer 25

Pre-categorised observational schedules. Positivist prefer these methods = enable them to identify behaviour patterns Pros: Quicker Cheaper Requires less training

Answer 26

- They are only useful for studying small scale interactions. = Its an intensive method to carry out - Counting frequency doesn't tell us about meaning - loss of validity

Answer 27

Easily replicated Standardised Generates quantitive data = easy to compare study

Answer 28

Interpretivist critics structured observation as it lack validity. In the Delamont study, she argues that simply counting classrooms behaviour and classifying it into limited number it notes the meaning that pupils and teachers attach.

Answer 29

* More flexible, less structured * Allows them to gain access to teachers /pupils - observations = enables validity, it gives an authentic ins of the world-views if social actors = this understanding is particularly important when researching issues such as classroom interaction or labelling in schools. * Allows them to gain access to the meanings that teachers and pupils give to situations by **immersing themselves in those situations**

Answer 30

* Schools are complex = time consuming to observe many settings * school settings is limited by the restrictions of the school times table, holiday, control over access. * personal characteristics = age,gender, ethnicity affects/restricts the process of observation. * interactions in school setting is limited by the restrictions of the schools times table, control over access. * schools are busy so may find it harder to find privacy. * Ethical: Their greater vulnerability and limited ability to give informed consent means that observation normally has to be overt * validity is undermined : teachers may be quite skilled at sighing their feelings and altering their behaviour when being observed e.g. inspectors and school managers. - the power difference between young people and adults is a major barrier to uncovering the real attitudes and behaviour of pupils = may present a false image when being observed by an adult researcher

Answer 31

* **T**ime * **R**esearch bias * **A**ccess * **M**oney * **P**ersonal characteristics

Answer 32

* **D**eception * **R**ight to withdraw * **I**nformed consent * **P**rivacy, protection from harm

Answer 33

* **v**alidity - true/genuine * **r**eliability- replicable(repeated) * **r**epresentativeness - whether the people studied are a typical **cross-section** of the group.

Answer 34

- pupils - teachers - parents: may be hard to contact withouts schools cooperations. - classrooms - school

Answer 35

- **power & status** (Hierarchal institutions that give pupils less status than adults, so they cant voice their opinions/attitudes as well) = Hierarchical inisitutuions, teachers may sometimes use their power over pupils. teachers may sometimes even be able to use this power to influence which pupil = to promote a good image of the school sociologists need to overcome the power and status differences between adult researchers e.g group intereviews - **ability's & understanding** (pupils vocab, self-expression,confidence and thinking skills may be limited = makes it difficult to gain informed consent) = young people use language differently from adults, which makes the construction of appropriately worded questions particularly demanding. A young persons memory is less developed than an adult so are less likely to recall in detail releveant material - **vulnerability** (As a result of their limited power/ablity they are more vulnerable to physical and psychological harm) given the vulnerablity of school-age pupils, child procetion issues are very important. For example, personal data should not kept unless it is vital to the research = links to child protection laws such as safeguarding vulnerable group act

Answer 36

* access to classroom is controlled by gatekeepes. e.g. headteachers, teachers. * To ensure the school is safe/ to not bring down the reputation * this makes it difficult to maintain access

Answer 37

There are two main types of questionnaire – **opened & closed.**

Answer 38

- Structured interviews are usually closed-ended interviews which produce reliable, quantitative data. They are relatively quick to carry out and require little training. - However, these interviews, although preferred by positivists, are limiting because the questions are fixed. The quantitative nature of the interviews means they are ideal for examining cause and effect

Answer 39

- When a participant's behavior changes as a result of being observed. - could lead to social desirable answers - unstructured interviews, observation and group interactions

Answer 40

- CLOSED = fixed numbers of respones, multiple choice. - OPEN: produce more qualitative data, explains meanings and motivations - USEFULNESS|:cheap and quixk, broad range of responses - increasing representativeness - PRACTICAL ISSUES : low response rate, closed may give leading or ambigious questions and open questions can be time-consuming to analyse - THEORECTICAL ISSUES: closed questions lack validity due to fixed responses, open questions may lack reliability as responses will be less likely to be repeated. - ETHICAL ISSUES: potentially sensitive topics and may cuase distress, may disclose responses that are imoral or require reporting other bodies

Answer 41

PRACTICAL FACTORS - Time: quick to access, however the levels of statistical data can take time to interpret - Access: some statistics might be unavailable for periods of time or not match the definitions of researchers - Operationalising variables - statistical meausrements have finit criteria for what defines ethnicity, social class, gemder etc, which may be less fluid than contemporary society ETHICAL ISSUES - can be manipulated by governments to prove ideological points - which means some people may not get the healp they need. e.g. healthcare, education amd bemefits. An example of this is the measurement of poverty and the nationa wage. Theorectical - validity - dark figure of crimes, education health. Interpretivist would state statitsics are a social construct - desicion made by those in power

Answer 42

- classroms are in a highly controlled setting. e.g. the teacher and the school control classroom layout and access, as well as pupil's time, noise level etc while in the classroom - As a result, the classroom behaviour that the researcher observes may not accurately reflect what those involved really think and feel. - classroom interactions, teachers and pupils are very experienced at concealing their real thoughts and feelings - classrooms are also fairly small / confined spaces, in a simple social settiing - which makes tje interaction straightfowrd to observe/analyse (teacher + student)

Answer 43

- in relation to context, think of educational social policies that could improve a child situation. - e.g. if the rresearch is about the absence of pupils - policies like busary or FSM can be used to resolve the truancy/unauthorised abscence + HELP THEIR FINIICAL SITUATION - think of why this might be happening? could be cultural capital = speech codes, or materially deprievd = dont delve too deep into it but think of reasons why a student may experience these things.

Answer 44

- Young people may be insecure about their identity and status. Therefore, when in school-based groups such as classes and freindship groups, they may be more sensitive to peer pressure and the need to conform. - this may affcet the way they respond to being researched. - it may be necessary for example to supervise pupils when they are filling in questionnaires, especiLLY IF THIS IS DONE IN CLASS, IN ORDER TO PREVENT peers from influencing one another's answers

Answer 45

- many teachers play the '**put on an act**' for pupils and others, teachers are often highly skilled at what Goffman call *'impersision management'* - manipulating the impression that other people have of us. The researchers may therefore have to find ways to get behind the publi c face - typically we ben=have differenlty when we are acting out a role ;front stage' as opposed to when we are back stage.

Answer 46

- practical advantages: Time effective For when investigating in school factors questionnaires may be better because it is quick and easy to use students may be busy with their study or may have our responsibility so a quick method of responding is Access: they are posted at home and online no gatekeepers were intervened data is also easy to quantify as they are close ended questions especially with scores

Answer 47

- Power dynamics between interviewer and interviewee can lead to dishonesty, lack of confidence, and less accurate responses, reducing data validity. - In educational research, where adults interview children, the authority dynamic may lead children to give socially desirable answers or defer to the interviewer, affecting data accuracy. - Similar dynamics can occur with certain parents, with working-class parents feeling patronized and middle-class teachers experiencing less pronounced power imbalances. - These social dynamics impact the interview process and distort the collected data.

Answer 48

Response rate On the other hand, as with questionnaires, those with the time or willingness to be interviewed may be untypical = this will produce unrepresentative data and undermine the validity of any generalisations made from the findings. - People may lie or exaggerate. These responses will produce false data. - the findings may lack validity because they do not reflect the interviewee's concerns and priorities. - Feminist criticised this method, similar to interpretivist sociology, who argue that structured interviews fail to reveal how the interviewee sees their situation. - Other feminists favour unstructured interviews, which enable the researcher to build a more equal and collaborative relationship based on trust, empathy and support.

Answer 49

- These could be things such as: personal diaries, government reports, medical records, novels, newspapers, letters, emails, web pages etc. - **Public documents** are produced by organisations such as government departments, schools, etc . - Some of this output may be available for researchers to use. It includes documents such as Ofsted reports of school inspections, etc - Public documents also include the official reports of public enquiries such as the Black Report into inequalities in health. - became a major source

Answer 50

- A document created in the past. - historical documents are usually the only source of information - The study of families and households illustrates some of the types of historical documents that have been used: - Ariès used child-rearing manuals and paintings of children in his study of the rise of the modern notion of childhood.

Answer 51

Criteria: **authenticity, credibility, representativeness and meaning.** - some information might be missing/ may not be able to understand / different interpretations = meaning may change overtime - is the document believable? Free from errors? Was the author sincere (emotions may influence) = credibility is undermined - can’t make generalisation = lack representativeness - cant take it at face value

Answer 52

* Ethnicity, class, gender and educational achievement * School attendance, truancy and inclusion * League tables, marketisation and school performance * Gender and subject choice * Education, work and training. **Practical** - Much of this data is **published** and thus available to the sociologist, **saving them both time and money.** - it **would be** too costly and **time-consuming** for a sociologist to **gather information on so many schools themselves.** - Educational statistics allow sociologists to **make comparisons** between the achievements of different social groups based on ethnicity, gender and social class. - Also, because educational statistics are **collected in the same way** = can make comparisons over time. For example,** annually gathered exam statistics** enable the sociologist to **see trends** in results.

Research Methods Flashcards

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